[General Questions and Answers] Ruth5662:
First of all, let me say that not only am I new to android, I am also new to smartphones in general. So when - in your amusing video, which I quite enjoyed watching - you say 'noob'...I mean NOOB!

I have Googled this problem extensively and have posted this question on 5 other android support forums over the last month or so, and although it seems (from my research) many people have this or a similar issue, no-one has come up with a solution. A forum memer from one of those websites has now suggested I post this here. I have, before posting, searched this site also for a solution, but it appears that although some have a similar problem, there has not yet been a solution found, or the advice given hasn't worked in my case.

So here's hoping somebody here can help with this irritating and inconvenient issue:

Device: Samsung Galaxy Ace

Carrier: Virgin Mobile

Country / Language: UK/English

OS / Browser / build number: Android Gingerbread 2.3.3

I am having the problem where I have set custom ringtones for some of my contacts, but they are not always being played as they are assigned.

I have all of my ringtones in an folder on my sd card (/sdcard/ringtones, having moved them from /sdcard/media/audio/ringtones to see if this solved the issue. It didn't)). I have a custom ringtone (mp3) set as the default ringtone and a couple of other custom ringtones set for a few of my contacts. However, when I receive a call the phone does not play the correct custom ringtone for that caller but instead plays the custom ringtone assigned to the previous person that called. If the caller is also the previous person to have called me, then it will play the correct ringtone, as they are the previous caller. (If that makes sense??)

To reproduce: Basically I install some mp3s onto my SD card. I go into my contacts, choose a contact, then click 'edit'. I then set the desired ringtone as the custom ringtone for that contact and click 'save'. When that contact rings, instead of the assigned ringtone, my phone plays the ringtone of the person who called me before that. When the next person rings, it plays the ringtone it should have played for the last contact. And so on. When I check the details for that contact, it confirms the ringtone I had chosen is still selected for that contact, it just doesn't play that one, but the one of the previous caller.

In addition to posting on Android help forums, I have also reported this bug to Samsung, although I'm not convinced it is a Samsung problem as clearly (according to my research) it is happening across the board with several other makes of Android phones. However, the reply I received from Samsung was:

"Thank you for contacting Samsung. As of yet, Google has not developed a fix for this fault so we may have to have the phone taken in by one of our engineers without any real guarantee it will be resolved. We could set this up for you but you may have to wait 28 days for the phone to be returned to you."

I am sorry, but I think it is unreasonable to be expected to give my phone up for a month, with no guarantee the issue will be sorted, just to be able to use a facility Samsung state is already available on the phone when it is clearly not.

I am inclined to believe this is an Android problem, and therefore would really appreciate any advice/a fix/solution anyone on here may be able to offer.

Thank you.